Donnelly blasts 'Amazon tax' as job killer

Tuesday

Jul 26, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 26, 2011 at 3:55 PM

By Rene De La Cruz APPLE VALLEY REVIEW

APPLE VALLEY • In a blunt, no-holds-barred talk, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (pictured, left) slammed Sacramento Democrats on Thursday for laws, taxes and policies that continue to make California among the most hostile states toward business.

He criticized Gov. Jerry Brown for signing a state budget plan that includes the so-called “Amazon tax” requiring Internet vendors and affiliates to collect sales tax went though their operations are outside of California. Amazon refused to comply with California’s demands and severed ties with many small businesses and individuals.

“California didn’t get $400 million in revenues; they just lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue,” Donnelly said in a speech to the Apple Valley Rotary Club. “We just blew a hole in the budget that will be coming soon to your local school or public safety.”

Donnelly said the new budget “invented $4 billion in revenue” and was created based on “hope.” The budget, he said, contains three illegal taxes, including a fire service “fee” of $150 per inhabitable structure in rural areas, including parts of Apple Valley. But Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, said the “fee” is actually an illegal tax. Republicans, he said, are planning a referendum to repeal the rural fire “fee” and urged locals to sign a petition to put the measure on the ballot.

“This one affects a large part of this desert,” Donnelly said. “That fee will keep growing unless we fight back. Keep letting your voice be heard. We are winning.”

The freshman assemblyman said his office received one scathing letter that questioned Donnelly’s time generating video content instead of doing the “business of California.”

“We don’t have any power in the minority up there and I can’t stop anything, but if I could get your voice out in the media — that’s power, that’s leverage,” Donnelly said. “That invites you to the table of the battleground of ideas.”